Coppola, Piero

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Coppola, Piero

Coppola, Piero , admired Italian conductor; b. Milan, Oct. 11, 1888; d. Lausanne, March 13, 1971. He studied at the Milan Cons, (graduated, 1909). After conducting in various Italian operatic centers, he conducted in London in 1914. During World War I, he pursued his career in Scandinavia. In 1921 he went to Paris, where he won distinction as music director of the recording firm La Voix de son Maitre (1923–34), with whom he made a number of pioneering recordings. In 1930 he was awarded the Chevalier of the French Legion d’honneur for his services to French music. He conducted throughout Europe until World War II; after the War, he conducted in Switzerland and Italy. He also composed, producing two operas, Sirmione and Nikita (1914), a Sym. (Paris, Nov. 13, 1924, composer conducting), and the symphonic sketch La Ronde sous la cloche (1924).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire